Should I leave my volt plugged in my garage after it's fully charged? It may sit for more than a day sometimes.

mixedpixel

09-23-2012, 02:06 PM

Yes, keeping the charge cord plugged in will keep the battery topped off and help with maintaining the temperature of the battery.

tboult

09-23-2012, 02:07 PM

Should I leave my volt plugged in my garage after it's fully charged? It may sit for more than a day sometimes.

Gm recommends leaving it plugged in. When its hot and plugged in it can use a small amount of wall power to keep the batteries cool. When its cold and plugged in it can use a small amount of wall power ot keep them warm.
Since battery life is impacted by heat, I'm not risking mine for a few cents of power in the summer. In the fall i do sometimes unplug it. In the winter I unplug if I know it will be > 2 days, (and plug back in a day before I need it). but otherwise just leave it plugged in.

montgom626

09-23-2012, 03:55 PM

Always leave it plugged in. Assuming the charge cord is in a safe place.

focher

09-23-2012, 11:27 PM

When this question comes up, I always think - when the car needs to do something requiring power, it either needs to tap the battery (then the ICE) or get the energy from the wall. I always prefer the wall. And that's GM's recommendation too.

montgom626

09-24-2012, 07:15 AM

In the winter I unplug if I know it will be > 2 days, (and plug back in a day before I need it). but otherwise just leave it plugged in.

Why do you unplug it?

silvercorvette

09-24-2012, 07:35 AM

I was living in my camper in NY foe 2 months and the Volt was plugged in at home, I am coming back home again from another 2 week trip and the Volt has been plugged in while I was gone

tboult

09-24-2012, 10:42 AM

Why do you unplug it?

Same reason I trip the GFI for my L1 charger every morning when I leave for work -- I see it as a waste of electricity. I know its not a lot, but still see no point in wasting it. But I only unplug when the garage will have near ideal temps (>50 <85). I figure it sits at work in a parking lot during the day all week, unplugging on a weekend won't be much different. And while I said I plug in a day before, I really ment the night before.. So I mostly unplug sat morning and plug back in sunday night april-nov.

montgom626

09-24-2012, 03:52 PM

Same reason I trip the GFI for my L1 charger every morning when I leave for work -- I see it as a waste of electricity. I know its not a lot, but still see no point in wasting it. But I only unplug when the garage will have near ideal temps (>50 <85). I figure it sits at work in a parking lot during the day all week, unplugging on a weekend won't be much different. And while I said I plug in a day before, I really ment the night before.. So I mostly unplug sat morning and plug back in sunday night april-nov.

Same reason I have my tv that is "off" on a powerstrip. I turn the powerstrip off so that the ghost loads are eliminated. If 100 million Americans did this, we could save a ton of fuel.

Chevrolet Customer Svc

09-24-2012, 03:57 PM

@vinobello,

The above posts are all correct. It is best to keep the Volt plugged in, even when fully charged, to keep the battery temperature ready for the next drive. This is important when outside temperatures are extremely hot or cold.

silvercorvette

09-25-2012, 11:55 PM

@vinobello,

The above posts are all correct. It is best to keep the Volt plugged in, even when fully charged, to keep the battery temperature ready for the next drive. This is important when outside temperatures are extremely hot or cold.
I disagree with those that say they unplug, when you weigh the few pennies in savings against the cost of reduced battery life it becomes a no brainer. I go through cars quickly and I may be trading my 2012 Volt for a new 2013 after only a year but I always treat all the cars I have ever owned as if it will be my last car.

1RiverMan1

10-04-2012, 11:36 PM

I have only had my Volt for a month, but a similar question came to my mind as well. My question was, "Should I leave the charger plugged into the wall when I drive the car away?" My answer came through experience. I came home one day, after leaving it plugged in, to find that the charging unit was warm. If it is warm, it is drawing some power. There is no need to be doing that when the car is not being charged.

Cord

10-07-2012, 11:25 PM

Take a reading on the power when the car is charged. See if that small cents per month is worth the loss of body energy to go out each day and pull the plug.

Every roof top with no solar collector is loss of possible energy make up the loss in another way.

1RiverMan1

10-08-2012, 12:41 AM

I think my earlier comment was ambiguous. When I referred to unplugging the charge unit, I meant from the AC outlet, not from the car. On the day in question, the car was gone for the day, but the charging unit was still plugged into the AC supply in the garage. Finding the charging unit warm when I returned, I concluded it was drawing power when not connected to the Volt. So I now unplug it from the wall after unplugging from the Volt.